Floor coverings are widely used as durable and attractive products to cover a floor of a building or one of its individual rooms. The floors are generally flat and made of structurally strong materials such as concrete, plywood, steel and the like. The floors require an attractive floor covering that is more appropriate for the intended living or working activities of the room. The relatively low cost and easy installation of floor covering such as vinyl and linoleum tile has created a demand for a wide variety of these products. The tile products fit together in a side-by-side arrangement or array that allows them to cover almost any floor surface or configuration. Individual batches of tiles are made with a specific surface color and texture. A batch of tile can have a single solid color or shade, or a blend of two or more colors. Similarly, the batch of tiles can have a surface texture that is smooth with a glossy or matted appearance or roughened with a course or grainy appearance. Different floor coverings made from different types of materials can have properties such as different densities, coefficients of friction or traction, and wear or chemical resistances.
Different floor coverings often abut along a straight seam that is covered by a transition plate, such as at a doorway between two rooms. Still, it is often desirable to cover the floor of a single room or area with two or more different types or styles of floor coverings for aesthetic or functional reasons. Different colored floor covering can improve the appearance of the room by creating an attractive design or pattern. Different types of floor coverings can provide different functional characteristics for different areas of the room such as along a walkway, entrance way, around a table, sink, appliance or piece of equipment, or the like.
One conventional method of laying different types or styles of floor coverings in a room 5 is to mark the upper surface 11 of its floor 10 to divide the surface into separate areas 12 and 14. For example, a pencil can be tied to one end of a string, and the other end of the string anchored to the floor 10 as in FIG. 1A. The pencil is extended until the string is taut and moved along a circular or semi-circular path to form a circular or semi-circular mark 15 that divides the room into separate areas. Glue or adhesive 17 is applied over the floor 10 except along a narrow area 18 on one side of the mark 15. The different floor coverings 20 and 30 are then set in place as in FIG. 1B. The floor coverings 20 and 30 have upper surfaces 22 and 32, respectively. The floor coverings 20 and 30 are in the form of individual tiles 24 and 34 arranged in a side-by-side manner or array 35. Each floor covering 20 and 30 is placed in one of the areas 12 or 14. Both floor coverings 20 and 30 continuously extend over the mark 15. The second floor covering 30 overlaps the first 20 along the mark 15. Given that the lower floor covering 20 completely covers the mark 15 on the floor 10, an additional mark (not shown) can be drawn on the surface 22 of the lower covering to ensure that the upper covering 30 completely extends over the mark 15. The edges of each tile 34 in the upper covering 30 are flushly aligned with the edges of the tile 24 in the lower covering 30 on which it is placed.
The overlapping floor coverings 20 and 30 are now cut to remove the excess trim 37 so that they both lay flat on the floor 10. As the first mark 15 is hidden by the floor coverings 20 and 30, the pencil and string are again used to make a second or third mark 38 on the surface 32 of the upper covering 30 as in FIG. 1C. The overlapping floor coverings 20 and 30 are now ready to be cut to form a seam 40 between them as in FIG. 1D. A template 42 is often made with an edge shaped to fit the curvature of the mark. The template 42 is placed on the upper tiles 30 and aligned so that its edge is flush with a section of the mark. Many small cuts are needed to form the entire seam 40. A propane torch 43 is frequently used to heat the section of the overlapping tiles 20 and 30 before each cut. Heated vinyl or linoleum tiles 24 and 34 are easier to cut. Once one section is heated, the torch 43 is put down and a hand held cutting tool 44 is used to cut the heated section of tiles 20 and 30. These steps are repeated one section at a time until each of the intermittent cuts is made and the entire seam 40 is formed. The intermittent formation of the seam 40 creates a number of discontinuities 45 where the template 42 or individual cuts were not properly aligned with the mark 38 or an adjacent cut as in FIG. 1E. As a result, a gap 46 between the edges of the adjacent floor coverings is inconsistent. Unintended scorch marks 47 and score marks 48 and are also frequently made on the surface 22 or 32 of the floor coverings 20 and 30. To hide these imperfections, the discontinuous seam 40 is often covered by a transition plate as in FIG. 1F.
A variety of tools have been developed to cut floor coverings such as vinyl and linoleum tiles and other similar dense semi-rigid products. Some of these tools are used to score, cut or lap seam two adjacent tiles or pieces of floor covering material together. Some examples of these conventional tools are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,013 to Cardinale, U.S. Pat. No. 3,148,448 to Gragg, U.S. Pat. No. 2,622,680 to Yakubik, U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,699 to Silver and U.S. Pat. No. 1,598,070 to Faase, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Many conventional tools for cutting floor coverings such as vinyl and linoleum tiles are intended to cut or trim the tiles one at a time before they are placed on the floor in their desired side-by-side arrangement. While these tools are readily used to cut like-shaped tiles to the same shape or dimensions, the tools are not readily used to make arcuate cuts in the tiles, particularly after they are secured to or positioned on the floor. Cutting individual pieces of floor covering tiles and then aligning them on the floor tends to create a non-uniform seam between the tiles. The pieces do not flushly align with their adjacent pieces when placed in the desired arrangement.
Conventional tools are not typically intended to make long continuous and uniform seams between two adjacent floor coverings, particularly when the floor covering is positioned over and secured to the floor in an array forming the intended design. Long seams are formed by smaller cuts. Each cut is formed by a separate stroke or pass of the tool along a small section of the floor covering. Care is required to ensure that each cut is properly aligned with the previous cut and cut line for the seam, particularly when the cut line and seam have an arcuate shape. Each stroke of the tool must be aligned to start where the prior cut left off and made along the appropriate radius or arc. Even with proper care, the arcuate seam can have discontinuities between the individual cuts and the gap between the cut edges of the floor coverings. These anomalies produce a shoddy and unprofessional appearance that can require large sections of the floor coverings to be removed, replaced and recut to achieve an acceptable seam.
Conventional floor covering techniques and tools are time consuming to use and require a significant amount of manual labor. The density and durability of floor covering such as vinyl and linoleum tiles make them difficult to cut, particularly in an arcuate manner. Scoring and breaking tile along a score line is difficult or impossible to do once the tile is placed over and secured to the floor. Conventional hand tools for cutting the tile can require two or more strokes along the same cut line to cut completely through the tile. Each cut takes time and can result in an unsightly score mark on the surface of the tile if the tool ventures off the intended cut line.
When a template 42 is used, the edge of the template must flushly align the cut line. Any misalignment of the template along the cut line produces a discontinuity in the seam. The worker must guide the tool by hand along the edge of the template during each stroke of the tool. The blade should pass close to the edge of the template but should not cut into or become hung up on the template. If the tool is not properly guided, the blade can jump off line and gouge the floor coverings, damage the template, or injure the worker. Any imperfection in the shape of the template is transferred to the shape of the seam. Each use of the template duplicates the imperfection. Care is required to make each template and protect them from damage at the construction site and during storage.
When a portable, hand held propane torch 43 is used, the flame is directed at or near an area of the floor covering where the cut is to be made. The template protects the upper covering 30 while the trim portion 37 is exposed to the flame. Still, the upper floor covering will be exposed to the flame if the template is not flush aligned with the cut line. In addition, the lower floor covering is not protected by the template and will be exposed to the flame if it is not covered by the upper covering. Care is required each time the torch is used to keep from scorching the floor coverings or burning the worker. During the long and repetitive process of intermittently heating and cutting small sections of floor covering, workers are often hurt and the floor covering is often inadvertently scorched or otherwise discolored. The end result is a more costly project and an unprofessional looking seam.
Conventional hand tools and heating techniques provide the worker with little or no ability to set and gauge the depth of each cut. The worker may press the tool down harder or move it at a faster rate from one stroke to another. Different portions of cut may be heated to different temperatures. This lack of uniformity of force, speed and temperature can cause the blade to cut all the way through one section of the tile and only partially through another. There is also little or no way to ensure that the cut has gone completely through both overlapping floor coverings. Workers can make another possibly unnecessary stroke and risk inadvertently nicking or gouging the template, inadvertently scoring the surface of the floor coverings or hurting themselves. To ensure the cut is complete, the worker may listen and feel for the tip of the blade scraping against or cutting into the concrete or wood floor, which can quickly dull the blade so that frequent blade changes or sharpenings are necessary.
Although transition caps or covers can be used to cover an unattractive seam between two adjacent floor coverings as in FIG. 1F, these caps are not always desirable. These caps create a ridge that can cause a person to trip and injure themself. This problem is accentuated if the cap becomes loose over time and begins to lift up off the floor. The transition cap also forms a break or discontinuity in the floor design and can adversely impact the appearance of the design. Placing a transition cap over a seam in the middle of a room or along a walkway where a person would not normally expect to find such a cap is not always desirable.
The present invention is intended to solve these and other problems.